Tuesday, March 20, 2007

moleskine virgin

So my first page of my brand new first Moleskine. I usually get quite nervous when I begin a new sketchbook. I always want to produce the 'perfect' opening drawing. Well this time I've decided to take a different approach and dive right in.

At first I wasn't too sure about the colour of the paper. Normally I like to use a clean crisp white background for my drawings. However, recently I began my love affair with this sepia pen. Now I'm thinking that this ink combined with the cream paper, of the Moleskine, is a marriage made in heaven.

A question for those of you who use Pitt pens in their Moleskine sketchbooks; do you use both sides of the paper?

24 comments:

WOW! Andrea ... that's just stunning. Doesn't look like there was any anxiousness involved to me. Great job.

I use the pitt artist pen in superfine black, watercolors and I also use the pitt line of colored brush tip pens. I haven't had them bleed through at all, and I can get pretty heavy with the pens. I work both sides of the pages and only occasionally have watercolor bleed through the seams. I have tried my prismacolor Design markers, which are similar to the copic and they bleed.

Wow is right!! You certainly did take care of filling those first blank pages. What a terrific idea!! This is really a very interesting study of nibs - I can actually envision it matted and framed and hanging on a wall in a very nice cherry wood and leather office - YUM!!

Karen - that is really useful. That's what I was thinking about. I too 'can get heavy' with the pens! This picture seemd fine and didn't run through but I was being quite light with this one. I was just wondering whether using the other side might spoil the previous drawing. I've never seen any evidence of that with your work!

Thanks for commenting everyone and Mattias that is definatley my next problem...I mean challenge!

Yeah! Andrea, i love your style on the cream-colored pages of the Moleskine. THAT's the marriage made in heaven! I am so glad you dove right in. Way to go. I'm almost done with my first Moleskine, and i did mess up a couple of drawings, but heck. That's part of what my stepfather calls "the anecdote". I don't know Pitt pens, but i draw with my super dark Pilot pen and i always use both sides. Love the inventory of quills. Welcome to Moleskine, Andrea. :-)

Andrea, I always enjoy your work! I'm confident that your subsequent drawings will be lively and charming like all of your work.

Karen, I have a question for you: how do you get the watercolour to perform. My watercolour always beads on the page, I have to scrub it in with the brush, and then it soaks through. It's frustrating - am I missing a trick to using watercolours in the moleskine?

EJ - I did not consider the composition and in fact it was one of those happy accidents. It was originally going to be two horizontal lines of nibs - nothing more. I put the first line in and it looked a bit rubbish. So I just started adding more and more and more!

This is amazing, the drawing makes a pattern that is just wonderful. I´d go for a wrapping paper too, it´s beautiful! Congrats on the Moleskine. I have one of those, but I´m not a fan of the paper, it has too much resistance to watercolors for me. I hope you like it though, it´s a good format sketchbook, easy to take along everywhere. Looking forward to seeing more of the things you do in it!

I love the design and the drawings and the collection ... wonderful page spread! I'm always so hesitant approaching the first page of any new blank book and you've done a great job.

BTW, I discovered that there are a few types of moleskine: the "blank journal" has thin pages that bleed through, the "sketchbook" has thicker pages that are great for any medium that doesn't take too much water ... which should be used in their "watercolour sketchbook"!

Too good for wrapping paper, but fine for the inside cover of books, you know the kind where they used to have marbled pages.Andrea, you are so careful and neat - how long did it take you to make these pages?I scribble and draw with a heavy hand and finish in five minutes. I wish I was more patient!w.